NCECA Conference inspires Galleries, Artists Providence began preparing for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) Conference two years ago, winning the coveted role of host with the proposed title “Lively Experiments.” Over 5,000 people will be visiting Providence from March 25-28 for the NCECA Conference, based at the Rhode Island Convention Center. Myriad exhibitions are scheduled throughout the city — and beyond — during March and April to coordinate with this dynamic event, offering collectors and art enthusiasts a view of innovation that explores clay works by masters and emerging talents, large and small, fine art and functional. Participating venues have crystallized efforts into a massively tiered set of exhibitions that includes those directly sponsored by NCECA, like the Pop-up “2015 NCECA Biennial” at Bell Gallery at Brown University (through … [Read more...] about Lively Experiments
Issue Articles
Ceramics On the South Coast
From the Historic to the Contemporary The sophistication of ceramics in the New Bedford area owes much to Chris Gustin’s active career as a catalyst of pottery enterprise and the influence of fellow ceramicist James Lawton. Both men have long affiliations with the New Bedford campus of UMass Dartmouth. Its University Art Gallery and Performing Arts Center are located in the UMass Star Store, a large refurbished former department store in New Bedford’s historic downtown. Gustin is a professor emeritus of UMass and Lawton is a professor who heads its ceramics program. Both are involved in South-Coast exhibitions that coincide with this year’s National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference in Providence. Six South Coast Massachusetts sites are presenting exhibitions of importance during the NCECA timeframe. New Bedford offers “The Uncommon Object” at University … [Read more...] about Ceramics On the South Coast
Gordon Parks Takes a Hard Look at Life
Looking Sharp at the MFA No one can predict the trajectory of a life, especially not an African-American life in the spring of 1950, just months before Brown v. Board of Education. That successful challenge to segregation set off decades of accomplishment and strife that still continue today. But Gordon Parks felt he was up to the job. He had a faith in his own near-mythical trajectory to an appointment as the first black photographer for that ultimate chronicler of American life, Life magazine. And that faith was based on works. And also on a peculiar, for his time and status, openness to optimism. The black principal of Gordon’s elementary school in the small, bustling prairie town of Fort Scott, Kansas urged every class there to “Look sharp, act sharp, be sharp!” Grouped around and on the running board of their principal’s car for their 1927 class photo, the 12 members of … [Read more...] about Gordon Parks Takes a Hard Look at Life
Forever & After
Looking Beyond at South Shore Art “Thou know’st ‘tis common; all that lives must die, Passing through nature to eternity.” Curator Bill Houser's exhibition statement for "Forever & After" starts with that quote from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and it’s perfectly apt. The show revolves around the subject of mortality and related themes: death, loss, mourning, commemoration, monument and, as he rather eloquently puts it, “belief in spirit with its uncertain evolution or transcendence.” History, art, literature, religion, song and popular culture are rife with references to belief in transformation at life’s end. Whether that process involves crossing the River Styx with the boatman Charon, being welcomed by the carnal pleasures delivered by 72 virgins, being forgiven for one’s sins by a hippie messiah, being reincarnated into insect or beast, or being reunited with Mom, … [Read more...] about Forever & After
New Expressions in Origami
Creativity Unfolds in Springfield “Above The Fold: New Expressions In Origami,” currently on exhibit at the Michele and Donald D’Amour Museum of Fine Arts in Springfield, includes diversity in its offerings in order to do justice to the wide variety of approaches to Origami, or “folding,” as it is referred to within the field. From scientific algorithms to political discourse, the impetus to create these works is varied, and the finished pieces are at once representational and interpretive. Origami as an art form uniquely transcends categories usually applied to the visual arts. Once considered a cultural pursuit, modern Origami masters have transformed the practice into an intricate, complex and highly expressive medium. Crossing bound- aries between mathematics, poetry, painting, literature, photography, architecture and social justice, Origami has become an expression of human … [Read more...] about New Expressions in Origami
Breaking Ground
Lesley Connects Campus and Activity The new Lunder Arts Center has arrived. Seven years in the making, the project is “the beginning of the next chapter in the history of the school,” said Richard Zauft, dean of the Lesley University College of Art and Design (LUCAD). Located in Porter Square on Mass. Ave., this 74,000-square-foot building contains both art galleries and studio spaces for LUCAD, formerly known as the Art Institute of Boston (AIB), and is open to the public. For its debut, the Lunder Arts Center’s first exhibition, “Breaking Ground,” features works of over 50 alumni as a way to highlight the past and embrace the potential of the future. Several expert jurors handpicked each piece for this show. For animation: Daniel Sousa, a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design. For design: Michael Hendrix, an IDEO partner and managing director of the Boston … [Read more...] about Breaking Ground